HI everyone, have another question.I have a dry clutch on my Mac and was wondering what oil and where do I oil the clutch.Do l oil just the bushing, ? Or are you suppose to oil the linings also.Would regular motor oil work or do you need maybe automatic trans fluid,or synthetic oil?
Just oil the bushing - You do not want any oil on the shoes. (I'm assuming a Max-Torque or similar type shoe)
the best lube I have found for the bushing is Castor. I keep it in a squirt can and put a few drops on the bushing/crank gap every other heat of run on the track. Roll kart back and forth. Doesn't take much and withstands a ton of heat.
I recall overhearing a couple of old timers reminiscing about the days before oil-filled clutches. As the story goes, a bunch of them had attached squirt cans to their karts, and they'd give their clutches a spritz each time coming out of the hairpin. Apparently it worked, and soon everyone was doing it. Of course, oil got all over everyone and everything, including the track. Shortly thereafter, the squirt cans were outlawed.
Truth or urban legend? Mr. Wlodarsky, is that how it went down?
texans invented oil clutches way back when.
at first it was a total loss system merely squirting oil on the lining coming outta the corners.
of course that didn't work out so good as track corners started getting really interesting to run after a few heats. so open oilers were banned and closed cover oilers became a rule.
you can squirt oil on the linings of drys i've done it a time or two when i'm breaking in a new dry lining at home.
you do risk glazing the lining and possibly oiling the track so it's not a good practice.
caster is a good choice tranny oil as good imho but i've even been known to use chain lube on the bearing if i have nothing else.
if you don't oil the bearing they'll burn out pretty quick.
We've run dry clutches as much as anyone. We rarely ever have to replace a bushing. I've replaced the drum (where the driver beats it up) on some before the bushing. The Castor works really good.
Where do you buy castor oil? Thankyou for your replays.
Mel, any kart shop should have castor. I usually buy Blendzall 460 Green Label, but Burris and many others make good castor. Comet Kart Sales is one of my go-to places. Ted
PJ1 Black Label (chain lube) works good. I oil my sprockets by squirting a little bit on the clutch sprocket, rolling a tire back and forht, then spinning the axle a few times. I do this about three times, or until the chain looks a little wet.
I used to spray the whole chain, but then the lube goes everywhere but where you need it, and about 90% comes off in the first lap. This process also practically ensures that the drum bearing gets a little lube at the same time.
Drum bearing lubrication is the reason I only run clutches with needle bearings, and not bushings. The needle bearings can take a whole bunch of abuse compared to a bushing.
Typically you are then talking about a minimum 10 tooth clutch drum, which you then compensate for by running a bigger axle sprocket. For example, for a 7:1 ratio, a 9 tooth drum would be matched with a 63 tooth axle sprocket, whereas a 10 tooth drum would take a 70 tooth axle sprocket.
Ciao!